Roads Plan Showdown

It's not too late for Gov. Bob Martinez to abandon this silly showdown with the Legislature over its proposed transportation plan, called Motion Plan 90.

Yet his aides say they are polishing a veto message. They claim the $4.7 billion road program, which the Senate and House approved this week, is dead the minute it touches the governor's desk.

But consider the weak reasons for killing it: The plan is full of ''dirty'' roads that don't comply with local plans to manage growth.

That sounds pretty persuasive - until you look at the facts.

Many of the roads aren't in local growth plans for a simple reason: Only 18 counties and about 235 cities have come up with their plans, which state law requires. The other 45 percent will follow soon.

What the governor's people don't usually say is that the state's watchdog on growth management - the Department of Community Affairs - would have a chance to scrutinize road projects before the Legislature spends money on them. The department, which reports to the governor, actually could disapprove any that violated good growth management.

Raising gas taxes should be a matter for local officials to decide, not the governor and legislators.

That is another one of the governor's arguments against the transportation plan. Simply put, the governor doesn't want to be blamed this fall for higher taxes. So he prefers to shift the heat to somebody else. That may suffice as a last resort to get some dollars for transportation, but it's hardly leadership.

So after four miserable failures last year, the Legislature came up with a compromise. Motion Plan 90 would send those dollars collected from a new 4-cent gas tax right back to the roads district where they were collected.

In the Orlando area's case, that would mean an extra $261 million for roads over five years. Cost to the average motorist? Just $20 annually.

By now, it's clear that the governor's arguments against the road plan just don't hold up. Meanwhile, there's no getting around the $16 billion backlog of road needs. Until that's reduced, Florida simply cannot keep up with growth, though bad roads won't stop people from moving here. And as Florida TaxWatch, a budget watchdog group warns, 172,000 jobs could disappear because transportation is years behind.

Remember, when the Legislature convened, Mr. Martinez said some things were too important to feud about. He then went on to champion better roads.

Well, governor, you were right. So why blow this chance over what is, in reality, a minor disagreement over how to tax? Let this roads measure become law. Florida can't stand much more do-nothing government.